Last Sunday July 28, Peru celebrated its 192^nd Independence Day. In Peru, the celebrations extend from the 28 to the 30. This period is known as Fiestas Patrias and most people take these days off. There is a big military parade broadcast on TV and the Peruvian flag is hung everywhere. Although we are far from there, I still want my kids to know about my culture and somehow live the experience of Fiestas Patrias. So I had this idea to start teaching G {L knows some things already since we’ve been celebrating for a couple of years now} about Peru by having a little “28 de Julio” play date.

We invited some Peruvian and Colombian friends and their little ones over and celebrated together. I know the kids are still young and may not understand much of what’s going on, but to be surrounded by Spanish-speaking people, especially Peruvians, talking about our country, food, customs, it just felt like being home away from home. We had such a great time.

I wanted to put together a little table commemorating this special date for my country. Red and white are the colors of our flag. I used things I already had {I have a big closet full of party stuff!} and just went to a neighboring town to get some Peruvian treats.

G stood in front of the banner and spelled “PERU”. I told him, it says “Peru”. And he responded “Pedu”. So cute.

I got some Peruvian “golosinas”, and of course, I had to get some Inca Kola and chicha morada. I also made some “gelatina” {jello} which is a very common dessert in Peru.

I had some lucuma powder in my pantry. Lucuma is a Peruvian tropical fruit. We use it mostly for desserts but now it’s gaining more popularity as a super food, the same as quinoa. I tried to bake some Paleo Lucuma Chocolate Chip muffins, tweaking this recipe I found online. The muffins turned out really good, and healthy, but you could barely taste the lucuma flavor. Next time I’ll use more lucuma powder. I also served some fruit and some pita chips. I had to balance all the Peruvian sweets and treats somehow!

My good friend M brought some “alfajores”, “rosquitas” {it’s been ages since I had those} and the cutest flag cookies. Another friend brought a “turrón de doña pepa” and a “causa rellena” {I forgot to take pictures}. We even forgot to eat them during the play date {we were so busy chatting and playing}. But I had some ”causa” after, and it was delicious!

For favors, I used some red and white striped paper bags that I adorned with a circle tag featuring a girl and a boy with some typical clothes from the Andes of Peru. Inside there were some crayons, a little treat and a little card I printed with the Peruvian flag for the kids to color.

As for activities to keep the little ones entertained, I printed some coloring pages I found online, with Peru’s map and other “símbolos patrios”. We also had an impromptu story time. We read some Spanish books and sang songs in Spanish, too.

The kids {and the moms} had a great time. It was very nice to be able to share and hang out with fellow Peruvian moms, since I don’t know many around. Hopefully this will be a tradition we follow every year. Hope all my Peruvian family and friends had a Feliz 28!

Nadia is a Peruvian wife and mom living in New York with her American husband and two boys. She moved to the United States in 2005 and has made one of her missions in life to raise her children to be bilingual and pass on her cultural heritage. She is an architect, designer and blogger. She is also founder of mamemima, an interior and event styling for kids studio. On her blog, at the same name, mamemima, she writes about decor, design, crafts, motherhood, bicultural identity and of course bilingualism.

My good friend Sisi — the mastermind behind our Spanish book club — has been hosting a Fourth of July parade for the kids for the past three years. I had never been able to take my kids because of work until this year… and I’m so happy we finally did. The kids had a blast decorating their bikes and wagons and when everyone was ready Sisi turned on the Sousa marches (that reminded me so much of my dad) and they were off!

We normally celebrate July 4th by going to watch the fireworks display in our town, but since the beautiful state of Colorado is burning, they’ve all been pretty much cancelled. So this year we’ll just stay home and read some of the books in Chelsea’s awesome list of Independence Day children’s book recommendations.

I’m glad we joined Sisi and all the other kids in the third annual Fourth of July parade and I hope this is one of those traditions my bicultural kids and I will be doing for many years to come! Gracias, Sisi!

Happy Fourth of July to all!

At the end of a hot summer day (especially the sweltering ones there have been this year!), there is nothing quite like retreating to the air conditioning and curling up with a good story. Nothing could be quite as symbolic of America’s multicultural traditions as reading about them in both English and español! In honor of el cumpleaños of our great country, here is a list of some heartwarming, pride-inducing, and informative bilingual books for Independence Day.

Click on the individual links or see them all in La Tiendita.

Independence Day/Día de la Independencia by Elizabeth J. Scholl — With this book, not only can you reinforce 4th-of-July customs, but enjoy learning about how other people celebrate their nations’ independence days.

Fourth of July/Cuatro de Julio by Sheri Dean — Read (in two languages) about the ways in which the 4th is celebrated and what it means for Americans.

Celebra el Cuatro de Julio con Campeón el Glotón by Alma Flor Ada — A fun, engaging children’s story about a July 4th picnic and the importance of celebrating with family and friends.

Paco, un niño latino en Estados Unidos by Margarita Robleda — A great summer book for elementary readers: the story of a young immigrant that follows with the multicultural pride theme of the Independence Day holiday.

Conoce los Estados Unidos de América by Bobbie Kalman y Niki Walker — This is a coffee-table book that doubles as a reference for school-age children. It includes a bit of history and tidbits about important American landmarks and leaders.

Betsy Ross y la bandera de los Estados Unidos by Kay M. Olson — An interesting history for parents and children alike…the story of how the first American flag was sewn!

Buenas noches, América by Adam Gamble — The perfect, patriotic bedtime story for the littlest Spanish learners. It introduces them to all of America’s greatest cities and national landmarks.

La llegada a los Estados Unidos by Kathleen E. Bradley — A fictional tale about a family arriving in America and feeling what it means to be American and looking forward to the future.

My boys couldn’t wait to get their hands on there July 4th edible wands!  Even our 18 month old bebé enjoyed playing with it and chowing it down. A couple of weeks ago, I shared how to make this trendy Confetti Bunting that you see above. It’s so simple and cute!

These are great for your 4th of July picnic that is fast approaching.  In mi casa we are bursting with cultural diversity. Let me explain, my husband is a Georgia country boy, I am Mexican-Puerto Rican and we are raising our kids in Ecuador.  Mi esposo feels very strongly about instilling in our children American pride so at bedtime he plays the American National Anthem to them so at least they could recognize it at this young age.  And this week we gave them a little American history lesson as we shared with them why we celebrate July 4th.

We can instill in our children pride for our country/countries no matter where we are by celebrating the holidays that are important to our country.

 Now onto the easy and yummy edible craft!

You will need your favorite sugar cookie recipe.  I used this one, our family loves it.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Skewers

1. In a large bowl, combine butter and cream cheese. Beat with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add powdered sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, vanilla, and almond extract until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Cover and chill about 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 1/4-inch thickness.

3. Use star cookie cutters and shape your dough. Insert your skewers.

4. Place cutouts 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are very lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.

Once they are cool let your kids decorate the wands with icing and sugar crystals. Add pipe cleaners, ribbons to your wands to make them July 4th beautiful!